OpensourceCMS.com has been around since August 2002. Founder Scott Goodwin was an entrepreneur and M.B.A graduate before he started playing with content management systems.
What is your story Scott?
In 2002 I stumbled upon open source CMS's quite by accident. I had no idea these systems were available for free. I found that many of the official CMS sites didn't have demos of their creations. Thus, you had to install each one to see if you liked it or not. This was extremely time consuming and frustrating I thought there should be a site that allows people to "test drive" many of the best systems vailable. Since there was no site like that, I started opensourceCMS.com. I had no grand business model. I just thought a site like this would be useful.
After a couple of months, and many emails from people needing help, I realized there was a business model in there, and that it was basically untapped. I then caters specifically to hosting and supporting the systems presented at the site.
OpenSourceHost now provides services to well over 1000 clients in over two dozen countries.
What functionality does the site offer, what kind of users do you have?
The primary objective of opensourceCMS.com was to provide a playground where people could become the administrator of a CMS to see how it functions from that perspective, without having to install it themselves. First and foremost that is what the site does. Our users run the gamut from corporate IT executives, to gamers looking for a CMS.
What are the technical specifications of your site?
Three years ago, when the site began, it ran on a 1 ghz celeron processor with 512 megs of RAM. Over the years we've had to upgrade several to keep up with traffic. Today, opensourceCMS.com runs on a dual 3.0 ghz Xeon with 2 gigs of RAM and dual SATA drives. This, for the most part, is powerful enough for now. I do see in the future where we'll have to split the web server from the mysql server though. It's just a matter of time.
Is there a 'business model?'
In the beginning there was no business model. I first created opensourceCMS.com because I thought it was a good idea. I had no intentions beyond that initially. In fact, I had a "real" job at the time. As it turned out, there was a need for a hosting company that focused primarily on open source CMS's and their special requirements. I then began OpenSourceHost. As time progressed, I began Open Source @ Work, OpenSourceFund, and OpenSourceServers.
The legal entity encompassing these sites is The Open Source Collective.
So I suppose there is a business model, but I accidentally stumbled upon it. I'm not sure what that says about my having an M.B.A.
What is your relationship with the cm community
We deal exclusively with php/mysql open source systems. I know less than nothing about commercial offerings, or systems not based on php/mysql. We have good relations with the php/mysql open source CMS projects. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet can be found in their communities.
Many users would like to move to os cm, but dont know where to start. do you see a level of service being introduced within the OS community?
I won't pretend to know anything about CMS's that aren't php/mysql. Many corporations use the Zope engine, which I understand is very good, however it is not php.There are a few standouts in the php/mysql arena that could be good for corporations.
Typo3 and eZpublish come to mind as commercial quality php/mysql systems. To a lesser degree you have Drupal and Mambo/Joomla. These systems are light years easier to use, but aren't as sophisticated as Typo3 or eZpublish. For your typical user who wants a website, but doesn't want to deal with html, there are many options to choose from. Most of the better offerings can be found at opensourceCMS.com.
Typo3 and eZpublish have commercial service providers surrounding their systems. You can also find legitimate service providers for other systems as well, you just have to look through their communities.
Does the site provide a 'tendering' mechanism?
We started Open Source @ Work a service we provide for free to bring together open source consultants and those that need their services.
How do you plan/hope your site will develop?
As a whole, The Open Source Collective has done better than I ever thought it would. The test site specifically, has simply grown organically. Search for any combination of open source and CMS, and you'll find us at, or very near the top of the page. If any one is searching for open source CMS's, they will eventually make it to OpensourceCMS.com.
Last month we had 150,000 unique visitors and it continues to grow every month.
Any wishes for our industry?
To be honest, I don't know much about the "industry". My only claim is I know a little about php/mysql open source CMS's. I think there is a need for a consulting firm to emerge that is skilled regarding the top 3-5 php/mysql open source CMS's. I think a company that tightly focused would do well. Of course not Fortune 1000 well, but well enough to be worthwhile.
